


The Hand of Fate (& A Touch of Death)

by CrossroadProphet



Series: The Hand of Fate (& A Touch of Death) [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Happy Ending, Lich!Taako, M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 05:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17277773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossroadProphet/pseuds/CrossroadProphet
Summary: Lichdom is a family affair. And if Lup is going to do this, she can't do it without him.Taako’s memories of both his lichdom and his family being stolen complicates things a bit, however.





	The Hand of Fate (& A Touch of Death)

**Author's Note:**

> You ever just sit around and realize you need more of Taako blurring the lines of life and death? Cause that's entirely what led to this. Enjoy!

"I love Barry with all of my heart, but you are my heart— that's why I can't do this without you, Taako."

Silence choked the space between them, Lup's hand sweaty and tight on his as her words rotated and twisted into some sort of sense. Liches. She and Barold wanted to be liches. And no, she didn't just want his blessing. She wanted him to dive ass backwards into this with them.

A quick tap of his wand and Taako summoned a bottle of Grey Goose. He choked the neck and took a swig of it before holding it to his twin. "Run that by me again?"

It wasn't a no. And beside him some of the tension seeped from Lup's shoulders as she took the bottle with a nod.

"Okay, okay. So we've talked about it before, right? Ever since that fucking stupid trial. We need a system so that when Johnny Boy comes a knocking, we always have someone who can pilot the ship, preferably without leaving that person alone." She took a small drink an watched her brother. "Lucretia won't talk about it, but you see it, don't you? That cycle was... it fucking blew ass, Taako. I won't leave her to that again."

"And you and Barold landed on liches... how?"

"We already cheat Death something fierce, bro, but this will keep all skeletal hands on deck, banging bods be damned."

Taako pulled the bottle back from her without reply and she took his free hand in both of hers.

"Taako. This world IS magic. We think if we have any chance of this working, it's gonna work here. And if it doesn't, Cap'nport can beat our asses over getting ourselves killed for trying when we reset. This is the best shot we're gonna have, but Taako. I can't do this without you."

He put the bottle slowly down and looked back up at her. She'd pulled her lip between her teeth in that same nervous tell she'd had since they were kids. Gods above.

"If I say no?"

She let out a big puff of breath. "Then that's it. I'll help Barry with the ritual, but I won't do it. Taako, we get out of this loop? We're gonna live a damn long time. But I don't want to make the choice that says one day I have to bury my brother for good."

"And if I don't say no?"

"Then we're gonna kick Death's ass together."

Together. It was as simple as that when it came down to Taako and Lup. Lup and Taako. The twins.

"Well. Then let's kick Death's ass, Lulu."

She launched herself forward, wrapping him tight in a hug and spilling conjured Grey Goose on the carpet. She kissed his cheek with a smack and Taako finally let out his tension with a laugh.

"Gross! Save that for Barold!"

—

The days leading up to the ritual now included Taako in their research and preparations. As soon as the three were cleared from Starblaster duty, they crept off to the libraries of the abandoned city and planned. A fresh eye with a knack for transfiguration unmatched by (literally) anyone on this plane offered new insight to kinks in the ritual and in almost no time at all, Barry concluded there was nothing left but to do it.

Taako and Lup had their best day ever together, pouring everything they could into making their day perfect for each other, constantly and playfully trying to one up the other. Barry could be seen smiling from the deck of the Starblaster as he watched his family shoot water pistols at each other and set fire to long dead institutions — until Taako's elf eyes spotted him. Then warning shots were fired from Taako's pistol until he scampered off back to the kitchens to check the turkey.

Give that man some necromantic mathematics and it had his undivided attention, but a single conjured turkey? Taako was going to have to have words with the lich-in-law-to-be. But those thoughts were brought to an abrupt end with another shot from Lup's pistol in his face.

Her cackling only reignited their war, the DMV's blaze silhouetting their water fight for anyone watching from the ship.

—

There was a buzz in their veins leading up to the appointed day of the ritual, but the morning of was like any other. With the promise to not tell the others until it was necessary, breakfast was just another breakfast. Taako and Lup manned the kitchen, doling out pancakes to the crew and Fisher like they weren't planning to end and extend their lives in just a few hours. There was no fanfare, they said no goodbyes. If this worked, and Barry was so certain it would, they would be back by dinner.

"You ready yet, bro?" Lup asked, from her perch in his doorway.

"Not all of us can be thrilled about eternity in one single outfit, Lu," he said again. "Taako needs to look good, dead or alive, baby." Long fingers adjusted the rim of his large red wizard's hat once more before he nodded at his reflection and twirled around to face her. "Whatcha think? Will I make a hot corpse?"

Lup rolled her eyes. "Second hottest next to me."

"Not in that thing, sister. Taako's got this one in the bag."

She flipped up her hood and stuck out her tongue. "We'll see what Bear thinks."

"Cheating!" he cried, grabbing his wand from the vanity and following her out. "Absolutely cheating! That's a rigged poll. You sleep with the judge!"

Cackling, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Get good." Their bickering persisted well into their trek to the hills with Barry both witness and victim to their nonsense.

At a glance, nothing about it was out of the ordinary, but a closer look exposed the truth. The way Taako's smile was stretched too long, the way Lup's hands clutched at them both a little too tight, the way Barry held their work to his chest. It was a little too forced. A little too tense. They may have all stared Death in the face before and greeted it with bared teeth, but never with open arms.

For better or worse, no one looked closer.

The preparations were made in advance, a few trips taken here and there to the site to make sure everything was just so. Barry fussed with some of the markings they'd drawn and Taako fiddled with his wand. Behind his ear. Between his fingers. Staying put while the last details were touched up was stressing him out.

"What happened to nothing left but to do it, Barold?"

"Just making sure it's perfect."

"Of course it's perfect, babe. We're kinda fucking amazing." Still, Lup waited until he stepped back to slip her hand in his. "We good?"

"Fucking amazing."

"Let's see about that," said Taako, taking their outstretched hands in both of his.

Dressed in their red cloaks (with the addition of Taako's hat and a few choice pieces of jewelry he'd spent the better half of a century collecting), they shared nervous glances one last time before the ceremony.

With bowed heads they began to weave through the ritual, a harmony of voices in a promise that would unite them beyond the veil and back again. The magic they could always sense, always reach out to and call, called to them. It was in the air, filling their lungs and seeping into all their cracks. It was grounding. It was a rush. It was too much and Taako wanted more.

He spared a glance from beneath the brim of his hat when he couldn't hear the words they chanted anymore. He saw Lup's lips move, but it wasn't an audible sensation. He felt her words and Barry's in his very veins. This was magic. This was THEIR magic.

Their trip back to the Starblaster was more jovial by far than their bickering departure. Neither Taako nor Lup could manage to stand still for more than a minute. They teased Barry for being able to do so. And he teased them back in kind. They weren't bound to each other, not really, not by arcane magic, but by a type of magic much older than that.

Barry joined them in the kitchen that night and they made a celebratory feast.

At the spread on the table, Magnus laughed. "What's the occasion?"

"What's that, thug?"

"It's just you and Lup have gone all out."

Taako flashed him a smile. "Guess you can say we're feeling alive right now."

Lucretia arched a brow as she joined Magnus and the rest at the table. "So you want to clog up our arteries because you're feeling alive?"

Merle shrugged, already digging in. "Eh, they'll reset in like a month with everything else."

And if anyone caught the look shared between the twins and the lover, no one said a peep.

—

Barry was the first one to test out his lich form. The very next cycle had found them on a rather hostile plane. Magnus had thrown up his shield between himself and Barry, but Barry shoved him aside, taking the full blast of the dragon's attack. The good news was that Magnus got to kick around for the rest of the cycle with the rest of them.

The bad news was that the cat was out of the bag real quick and Davenport tore Barry and Lup new ones behind closed doors on the ship.

But just Barry and Lup. Taako had become suddenly very concerned about a scrape on his temple and had quickly found a reason to visit Merle and wring some healing out of the old dwarf.

"You knew, didn't you?" Merle asked as he dabbed at Taako's bloodied brow.

"I am insulted, Merle. You think I would keep something like this from our captain?"

Merle leveled a look at him. "You once tried to hide a weasel on the ship for two cycles."

"His name was Charles and he was a king among weasels, Merle, and you know it."

The dwarf laughed and taped the gauze over Taako's brow. "Sure, sure. Just hope Dav doesn't catch you this time."

Taako squinted a bit, ignoring the twinge in his brow. Merle had that concerning way of being both an idiot and an annoying know all. "I'll take that under consideration." He hopped down from the medical table and smoothed out his robe. "Gonna go see if ol' Cap'nport's figured out how to kill a lich. Catch you on the flip, my man."

Barry floated through the door to his room a second before Lup opened it to see Taako making himself right at home on Barry's bed.

Lup narrowed her eyes at her twin. “Hey, thanks for the support back there. Big help.”

He laughed, teeth flashing in a bright grin. “And get the safe magic talk from Dad’nport with you fools? No thanks. Taako’s good out here.”

The magic specter that was now one Barry Bluejeans shook his head from where he hovered in the center of the room. “AT LEAST WE GOT IT OVER WITH. WHAT’S DAV GONNA DO WHEN YOU GO DARK AND SPOOKY?”

Taako traced the number six in the air with his wand, it flashed a brilliant shade of purple before vanishing. “Who says he’s gonna find out, homie? I’m winning the whole staying alive game next to the rest of you.”

—

Karma, they found out, was a very real goddess on this plane, because not two days later Taako kicked it.

That same fucking dragon was hot on his and Lucretia’s asses when he took a stand, buying her just enough time to get to the safety of the Starblaster without him. There was no time, however,  to stick around and see the shadowed specter rise from his (literally) smoking hot corpse.

Lucretia leaned back against the ship’s door, hand clutched over her still rapidly beating heart as Lup came skidding down the hall. The words were stuck in her chest as she looked at her. They might reset in eight months, but no one ever wanted to draw the short straw in explaining to either twin that their other half wasn’t coming home for dinner for awhile.

Luckily, Taako spared her a second time in almost as many minutes by floating in through the wall beside her, all brilliant crackling red magic that shimmered purple at the edge of his spectral cloak. “THIS PLANET’S FUCKING WHACK. I’M DONEZO.”

Lucretia jumped. 

And if Taako wasn’t still reeling from the dragon fire, he’d have laughed. Instead, he just pat her shoulder, hand lazily drifting through her a bit. “I KNOW I’M THE FABBEST LICH ON THIS SHIP, BUT YOU CAN HOLD THE APPLAUSE.”

Her gaze flicked between both twins and she slumped a little, tension replaced simply with exhaustion. “I shouldn’t be surprised.” Shaking her head, she walked off down the hall to whistles of Lup examining her twin’s new form.

“Alright, alright,” she said. “You make a hot ghost.”

Beneath the brim of the hat there was a sharp gleaming flash of magic like a smile and Taako flipped a hand at the braid over his shoulder. The jewels he’d adorned himself in for the ritual were now glittering sparks of white and purple magic across his fingers and at the clasp of his cloak. “HELLS YEAH I DO. DEATH WISHES HE COULD GET A PIECE OF THIS.”

“TAAKO!”

He flinched at Davenport’s voice from down the hall and Lup cackled. “WELL SHIT.”

“LUP! BLUEJEANS!”

“Aw beans.”

—

If this was really their last cycle, Barry and Taako were already wearing their bodies too thin. Lup had been missing for weeks now and nothing beyond a trail of black glass could lead them any closer to her. Taako was sure that if he hadn’t been forcing Barry to stop and eat each night, his brother would have already shed this body in his dogged pursuit of her.

The stars glimmered overhead as they talked and for a moment Taako was taken with how beautiful they were. He hadn’t stopped to admire anything here since… since what?

Barry spoke again and Taako cocked his head, hearing but not following. “Find who?”

And then Barry was panicking. “Is this Fisher…?”

This nerdy looking guy was panicking. Why was he so freaked out. Taako’s brow furrowed and he took a step back as the guy stepped forward, hands clutching at Taako’s robes.

“I can’t forget. I can’t- Taako, kill me. One of us needs to remember, Taako, kill me!”

Without hesitation, and not knowing why, Taako raised his wand and threw every ounce of fire he had into a single spell. The man clutched at his chest as he stumbled, looking at Taako, and something in that spoke to him. This man was important. This man was nobody. He didn’t even know his name. And yet something in him ached when his body toppled overboard out of sight.

—

_ Your name is Taako. And you are going to be so loved. _

A voice said that once, he thinks. He drags his hand over the freshly painted side of his wagon.  _ Sizzle It Up with Taako _ had been a long time coming, but he's finally following his dreams. To be an icon, adored and envied. He’s gonna be a star, baby.

“Let’s hit the road, Sazed,” he called, climbing up to the driver’s seat. “Taako’s gotta reach Longsaddle in two days, hop to it my good man!”

_ Your name is Taako. And you are going to be so loved. Stay safe. _

_ I NEED you to stay safe. _

—

Magic shoots off in a dazzling display around him as he pulls free the umbrella from the corpse. It’s bright and brilliant and for the first time since Glamour Springs, Taako feels absolutely in control and powerful. This is right, somehow.

Merle grumbles about not trusting the thing, but Taako twirls it and props the pure fucking magic umbrella over his shoulder with a grin.

—

The first time he sees the robed specter, something in Taako’s blood sings. Power. That ghost is mad powerful in a way Taako is pretty sure he hasn’t seen before, but damn if it doesn’t feel… familiar. A physical sort of memory his mind can’t put a name too.

And then the specter zeroes in on Taako’s umbrastaff and the elf takes a step back as it surges forward.

“YOU FOUND HER?!” it demands. It reaches for him, for the staff maybe, and then thinks better of it. Or maybe it just loses focus. Because the specter is torn and in a burst of shadows and red sparks its gone as quick as it’d come.

Taako shares a look with Magnus and Merle out the corner of his eyes. “So… we’re not gonna tell the Director about this one, right boys?”

“Seems bad.”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

—

“You’re not a lich, are you Taako?”

Kravitz is there, right there, staring him in the eye as if doing so could maybe get him a peek at Taako’s soul. Who knows with Death? Maybe it can.

“Not that I know of, my dude.”

“No, no. Of course you’re not, I would know,” Kravitz says, but there’s something uncertain about the way he says it. Like he’s partially convincing himself of that truth. He turns his back, pacing away from Taako as he tries to suss out the phantom lich like a hound with a fox.

And Taako’s hand jerks up suddenly, a sizzle of red magic flaring at the tip of the umbrastaff as it takes aim at Kravitz and, for a moment, Taako almost lets it happen. Then he throws his arm straight up and the magic bursts harmlessly like fireworks into the sky.

—

Wonderland is both a dream and a nightmare in one flashy little package. Though the twins had intrigued him at the start, Taako is defo over this place’s initial charm. Maybe it's the magic thrumming through this place and holding it all together, but Taako feels powerful here. Sure those bears hurt like a mother, but here his magic is just a bit stronger.

Strong enough that he blows through some of his most powerful spells and barely feels drained for it. True Seeing on Magnus? Sure. Why not?

These liches are gonna get hella stitches if this keeps up.

“Bad luck.”

The bell chimes and Taako’s ears twitch as his head snaps towards Magnus. His body speaks, but the disappearance of the second lich is sign enough something is amiss. Never mind Magnus is never so eloquent. Rookie mistake there, Edwardo.

The power of Wonderland is still twisting around Taako when his eyes go white and his body collapses beside Merle.

He’s never cast Soul Jar before and hell. This entire attempt was a balls to the wall last ditch effort to grab Magnus, it's not much of a plan. His soul rises from his body and the magic crackles around him in red and purple sparks. There's no time to take stock of his spectral form as he flies towards Magnus, arms outstretched.

Somewhere below, the Red Robe does take notice. And Taako practically feels the specter’s eyes on him in this magical form. Not the time. That thing is a later problem. His hand — oddly skeletal and gleaming? weird flex there, Soul Jar — grabs at Magnus, pulling him back to safety.

For a moment through the portal, he sees Kravitz, clawing through the muck that is the Astral Sea. They lock eyes for a moment before Kravitz vanishes again, a look of shock on his face as he's pulled beneath.

Well shit.

Taako pulls Magnus closer, magic flaring bright as Merle calls them back to him.

One problem at a time.

Their Stones of Farspeech fall to dust in the hands of the Red Robe before the specter floats off, urging them to follow.

The Magnnequin beside him tilts its smooth, wooden face in his direction as they head through the woods. “Hey… Taako?”

“Hm?”

“Back there…”

“No need to thank me, my man. I mean I did just hella save your life, but—”

“No, not that. I mean. Yes that. But, uh… you looked like him.”

“Like who? Ain’t no one who looks like Taako.”

The Red Robe flickers a bit, but says nothing as they keep moving and Magnus juts a strange wooden thumb at their spooky guide.

“When you grabbed me. You didn’t look like you. You… You kinda looked like a Red Robe. Like literally, Taako, you were in a red robe.” He gestures to the hat on Taako’s head and spreads his hands wide. “And with, like, a biiiig hat. But it was a pretty red look. Rad too, but definitely red.”

Taako stops, hand going tight around the handle of his staff. The words make sense, but they don’t. How could he look like a Red Robe? That was ridiculous and he tries to say as much, but the umbrastaff hums in his hand. He can almost feel it chanting ‘YES YES YES’ until he shakes his head of it.

“Taako looks good in every color, my man. I had fucking skeleton hands too, but I’m still very alive. Ain’t nothin.”

The Red Robe glances back at them as they approach the main road cutting through the woods. “I PROMISE, I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND.”

“Yeah... cause that’s not fucking cryptic and weird, Little Red.”

—

He’s kissing Kravitz and holy hell he’s never been so glad to see Death. He remembers now and he remembers a lot of joking about kicking this guy’s ass. But Pan, this is  _ so _ much better. He grabs the reaper’s cheeks and meets his eyes when they break apart. “So. I think I lied about not being a lich.”

Kravitz laughs and brings their foreheads together. “I think we have bigger problems right now, love. But we’ll file that one for later.”

—

The dust is still settling across Faerun when Kravitz cuts his way through the planes and steps into the dormitory the Liches Three have claimed. Barry and Taako take up the physical space of the couch as Lup hovers and floats between them.

Kravitz is silent for a bit and then coughs a little, trying to awkwardly cover up his staring. It doesn’t really work, but it’s cute that he tries.

“Well, you three have rattled things quite a bit. It’s one thing to excuse the countless deaths across the planes. But lichdom is a biggie. Definitely on the Top Ten Dos and Don’ts of the Raven Queen.”

Taako rolls magic between his fingers, pure arcane energy he hasn’t felt in a very long time, as he watches Kravitz. “There’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere, thug, out with it.”

“But you are the saviors of literally every plane and the Raven Queen has decided to make one more exception—”

Lup doesn’t even wait to let off sparks of excited fire. Taako and Barry dutifully duck away from the embers. Having spent so long in isolation, neither can fault her for the excessive emoting, even if they’ve already stamped out more than a few fires in just the last couple of days. (Thank gods Barry is already working on getting her her body.)

“—at a price.”

“AND WHAT’S THAT, SKELETOR?”

Kravitz levels her a ‘please don’t’ look, but Taako can feel the familiar, eager magic thrumming through his twin’s undead being. She is absolutely going to do that again.

“Your crimes will be forgiven at the cost of, let’s say, community service.”

“SOUNDS BORING.”

Kravitz snaps both hands and in them appears two scythes.

“DID I SAY BORING? I MEANT FUCKING BALLER.”

He chuckles and Lup’s lich form is already gliding towards him and excitedly wrapping skeletal fingers around the nearest weapon.

Barry, of course, is crunching the numbers like a nerd. He pushes his glasses up and levels Kravitz a look of his own. “Your math is off there, bud.”

Kravitz tosses the second scythe towards Barry who catches it on reflex, like he was born to do this, and Kravitz smiles.

“Taako’s community service has been bought out by a third party.”

Well that was definitely suspicious. Taako narrows his eyes. “To who?”

Kravitz doesn’t snap his fingers this time. Instead, he reaches into his coat and pulls out a small white pouch that he tosses into Taako’s open hands.

Lup floats around to peer over her twin’s shoulder as he unties the draw string. He upends it into his palm and out falls a small golden spindle on a long golden chain.

“Lady Istus will be in touch.”

—

It’s been ten years since the Day of Story and Song and Taako is happy. He and his family are actually at peace for the first time in a long damn while and shit if they haven’t earned themselves a little peace.

Sure, there’s work to be done as emissaries of Death and Fate, but at the end of the day? They’re still kicking it together.

The Taako brand is on fire across multiple planes. He’s got a banging boyfriend. He’s got his sister.

He's got his sister.

So yeah. It’s a pretty damn good time to be Taako.

He’s sitting on the top of a tower in Neverwinter, admiring the city below with all of its twinkling lights, when Lup cuts a rift behind him. She’s got her body back and a familiar red robe flutters around her as she takes a seat. “Wanna freelance?”

Taako tips his head back and the gold spindle glitters at his neck against purple robes. “Bone Squad needs help from ol’ Taako, huh?”

She elbows him. “Don’t be a shit,” but she’s smiling even as she says it. “Couple of idiots trying to become liches the old creepy way. Figured you might want in for some ass kicking.”

He glances towards her and grins. “Fate of the world gonna be fucked if we’re ten minutes late?”

“You tell me.”

He chuckles and points down into the market square below. “Need to see a man about a horse real quick.”

Lup waves him off and Taako falls.

There is the moment of rushing wind all around and then he’s gliding gently down to the street. A glimmer of soft gold magic washes over him mid fall and by time he touches down, Taako is a ghost, a robed and invisible specter, the Hand of Fate.

He doesn’t stop to get his bearings, quickly following the countless invisible threads of fate as easily as any recipe he’s ever touched. There’s a single shimmering grey thread woven between the gold and he follows it to an alleyway where a small half-elvish girl is clutching a dagger, her eyes darting to and from the crowded street.

From Taako’s bag, skeletal fingers pull out a small card with the Highchurch family crest emblazoned across it. In neat bold font, it boasts seeking adventure as well as finding healing. He throws it into the winds and the card glides and spins in the Ethereal before fading into the Material near a passing stranger. With a glint of gold, it drifts lazily to the stone as if simply misplaced.

The gold is the trick, bright and clear enough to catch the watching girl’s eye. She stows the dagger and rushes forward with small, greedy hands to grab it. There’s the quick flash of disappointment at the realization the gold is ink and not coin, but then her dark eyes read the text. And Taako watches the flicker of hope spark in her as her thread turns silver and then gold.

She clutches it tight and runs back into the alley. There are hurried whispers and an exchange out of sight that Taako could listen in on, but chooses not to.

He watches her and a smaller boy, a brother, step out of the shadows. She points again at the address on the card, a recently opened Neverwinter branch of the Xtreme operation here in the city, and the two are already headed on their way, her arm around his shoulders.

A stick up operation by an untrained hand in the effort of finding the gold to help a sick brother cuts two lives terribly short. But one little intervention. A small piece of paper. A reminder of other options. Well. That might just be what allows them to grow up and into two of the greatest healers this or any world might ever see.

There is a soft flicker at the corner of his eye and the spectral form of his sister is there, skeletal and powerful and still, despite the odds, gentle. The bright fires of her magic burn down to hearth embers inside her skeletal frame as the two half-elves scamper out of view.

“THINK THEY’LL MAKE IT?”

“WE DID.”


End file.
